Women on the Verge of a Financial Breakthrough

Do you have a 4-year-old daughter or 15-year-old niece that you hope to help pay for college, but also would still like to have money for other things like toilet paper and health insurance, but feel like the two things are mutually exclusive ?

Stop freaking out - we just might be able to pull this off.

We know - we already did an episode about saving for college last season. But this time we invited a real life college finance mastermind!

Our guest expert Ann Garcia is so expert that she actually wrote a book called…wait for it…How to Pay for College. Not only does she blow through all the myths about college saving making tuition more expensive, she explains what a list price is, and how what they say college costs is different than what college actually costs (in a good way).

Also, all the programs and scholarships and other things we never knew about that lower tuition costs and help students choose the right school.

After you listen, check out all of Ann’s wisdom and resource-sharing on her website howtopayforcollege.com. And, to get even more of her specialized strategies, take her College Financial Plan Masterclass. Women on the Verge of a Financial Breakthrough get a 10% discount!! Just enter promo code: WOTV10

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

We’re back for the real Season 2!

When you get a hot tip about individual stocks, can’t you just buy a bunch and get really rich and then laugh at all the people that weren’t as clever?

But, wait, you have to sell them in order to get all those riches… So, can someone please just tell me when they’re about to go down so I can sell them then? No? Wait, what?

In this episode, we discuss how Sara’s stupid rational advice about buying Airbnb stocks prevented Caitlin from buying a Corvette, or losing a bunch of other people’s money, depending on how you look at it.

Sara makes it clear what her professional opinion is about borrowing money to invest (a hard pass) and Caitlin makes it clear how it’s possible to get emotionally attached to a losing stock (it may suck, but it’s mine).

Human psychology and an insanely unpredictable market seem to conspire against all of our fantasy get-rich-quick schemes when it comes to buying individual stocks.

Also, we discuss this article that says that women retire with a quarter less wealth than men. WTF and how can we change this?

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on the Ask Us page of our website!

This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

This week Sara and I pepper student-loan specialist Danika Waddell with questions about two different student loan programs: the Biden $10,000 debt relief program, which you’ve probably heard of, AND the Public Student Loan Forgiveness program, which you might not have heard about.

The Public Student Loan Forgiveness waiver is a temporary rule change for a program that lets people who have worked in public service (in government, certain non-profits, school districts, public health, etc.) for ten years to apply for loan forgiveness.

***This is DIFFERENT than the $10,000 Biden student debt relief plan.***

Do you have student loans? Have you ever worked as a teacher at a public school? Have you worked as a social worker? Have you ever worked in an under-served health care setting?

It doesn’t matter that you haven’t worked in a qualifying institution for ten years yet, you can still apply and have all of your additional years and payments start counting for future forgiveness.

If there’s any chance you might qualify, please investigate and APPLY NOW! The temporary waiver expires on October 31st, 2022.

We also discuss the latest information about the Biden $10,000 program, and where to keep up-to-date.

Here are the resources we talk about in the episode for learning more:

- This NYTimes summary is fantastic.

- Details on the actual Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF).

- Trying to determine who your loan servicer is? Student aid is the place to go.

- You can sign up for notifications about your loan forgiveness here.

- Tool for calculating the best repayment plan.

- Free advice about student loans.

- PSLF program announcement.

- PSLF waiver explainer page with FAQs and explanations.

- PSLF application with explainer tool.

- Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program Support Facebook group.

Many thanks to Danika Waddell, founder and president of Xena Financial Planning who answered all our student loan forgiveness questions with patience and humor, and provided this great list of resources.

So get going and get applying! Remember, you don’t need all of your forms and information right now, the most important thing is that you submit an application by October 31st, 2022.

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

Transcripts for this episode also available on our website.

This episode was edited by Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

What do you do if you actually have money to invest in the stock market but the constantly sinking numbers are scaring the shit out of you?

Are you really just supposed to pour perfectly good dollars into a sinking (market) ship?

And what about that whole “buy low, sell high” thing?? Is now the low?? But can it go even lower??

And, and what the fuck are iBonds and why is everyone talking about them?!

Sara explains to Caitlin, again, what risk means when it comes to investing in the stock market, and how we get the reward for taking so much risk. Which is supposed to be the whole point.

(Spoiler alert: In order to get the reward you have to stay on the (stock market) boat, even during the lows. Especially during the lows?)

And there’s more set it and forget it for the lazy, I mean wise, investors!

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our website!

Full transcripts for all episodes on our website.

This episode was edited by Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Are we really supposed to stay in the stock market even when it does a bunch of scary shit and our account balances are going down instead of up?

Do we keep pouring more money into our retirement accounts when we’re not sure we’ll have rent money for the next six months?

Can’t our precious investment money just take a little drama-free holiday in a savings account until the shitstorm is over?

Sara tells us how to adapt our financial goals and strategies to meet this moment, without throwing in the towel…and Caitlin tells her she should really come up with some new advice.

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our website!

Transcripts for this and every episode are also available on our website.

This episode was edited by Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Before the real Season 2 starts, Caitlin drills Sara about what the hell is going on in the economy and why the financial news just keeps getting worse.

How many “all time” stock market lows can we hit until we should start squirreling away sea shells, Pop Tarts and collectible Beanie Babies?

Will our retirement accounts vanish into thin air?

Does the economy have Covid? Will it ever get better?

Sara slips into her late night radio DJ vibe to calm us all down and lead us through these uncertain times.

Also, she explains what exactly a bear market and a recession are, and how surfing is an excellent financial management strategy right now.

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

Follow Sara on Twitter @SaraontheVerge and like our Facebook page.

Transcripts for all of our episodes are available on our website.

Episode co-produced and edited by Kelly West.

Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

This is the last episode of Season 1, in which Caitlin asks Sara if gas will soon cost $15 a gallon, what is the point of anything?

Sara explains how inflation typically works in the US, and shares the bananas cure for high prices: EVEN HIGHER PRICES.

How the F are we supposed to pretend we’re saving for our future if it seems like we’ll never be able to afford a hamburger again, much less retirement?

Sara shares a few strategies to keep our eyes on the prize, even if we're gonna be grasping our suspenders for a while.

Oh and there’s some stuff in there about how you really need to know about finances even if you’re married and your spouse takes care of it all.

This week, the one thing Women on the Verge of a Financial Breakthrough can do TODAY to take the first, or next, step towards building a strong financial future is taking a hard look at how much cash you've stored up so you’re not losing more value than you have to with high inflation.

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our website!

Transcripts for this episode also available on our website.

Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Getting a whole pile of money is the dream, right? But what the hell are you supposed to do with it? What if you invest it all and the market goes down the next day?

Freak out!!

Or not. Sara shares a couple different approaches to investing windfalls for both the strong-willed and faint of heart.

Also, we didn't come up with a Cosmo quiz for figuring out how "risk tolerant" you are, but we should have. It turns out, there's only one key factor...and it involves the ability to close your eyes, plug your ears and sing, "La la la la la".

This week, the one thing Women on the Verge of a Financial Breakthrough can do TODAY to take the first, or next, step towards building a strong financial future is looking at the progress you've already made in your investing journey.

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions on our website!

Transcripts posted on our website!

Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

How are parents supposed to prepare for their own future financial stability *and* save for their kids' college educations?

There is so much conflicting information to navigate. You NEED to already have a 529. But also, DON'T start a 529 because then your kid won't qualify for financial aid.

Sara shares some strategies for the near and medium term to help out your kids, without losing out on your own retirement goals.

This week, the one thing Women on the Verge of a Financial Breakthrough can do TODAY to take the first, or next, step towards building a strong financial future is figuring out how much a college education might cost anyway.

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions on our website.

Transcripts for this episode available on our website.

Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Some debt is "good" and some debt is "bad", right? But how can we tell the difference?

Sara walks us through how to think about debt, and how to decide if paying it off early fits into our financial planning strategy. (Spoiler alert: Not as often as you'd think.)

Caitlin realizes (again) that banks don't always have our best interests in mind when it comes to lending us money and finally masters some financial concepts Sara has explained to her one billion times.

This week, the one thing Women on the Verge of a Financial Breakthrough can do TODAY to take the first, or next, step towards building a strong financial future is figuring out her "debt inventory".

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions on our website.

Transcripts for this episode available on our website.

Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.